ISIS Propaganda Offers Advice on How Women Can Be 'Good Wives of Jihad'
The Islamic State terrorist group has recently established a new media wing devoted to using social media to distribute advice on how women can contribute to the group's jihad by using nursing and cooking skills to be exemplary, supportive wives who know how to keep their jihadists happy.
ISIS' new media group, The Zora Foundation, has released in the last two weeks various propaganda centered around how women can contribute to its war by being "good wives of jihad," The Independent reported.
The Zora Foundation, which carries the slogan of "preparing for the honor of jihad," has been posting various tweets and videos in Arabic showing ways in which women can contribute to the jihad — cooking, cleaning, first aid and even helping ISIS' propaganda campaign — once they're married to a jihadist.
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Charlie Winter, a researcher at the counterterrorism think tank The Quilliam Foundation, told The Independent that he thinks The Zora Foundation is designed to help women prepare to enter the caliphate, while providing more tips and suggestions for those who are already serving jihadists.
"It's kind of a guideline on how to be a good supporter of jihad and have the best role in supporting your mujahideen as a woman," Winter said. "I haven't seen anything like this before. There will probably be forums doing similar things online, but this is the first time I've come across an actual media organization giving guidance to women on their role."
One Zora Foundation video posted on YouTube tells women to keep fighters happy through the completion of "feminine manual labor."
The video talks about the importance of females nursing the jihadists and preparing meals for them. The video uses animations such as a sewing machine, first aid kit, microwave and refrigerator to symbolize the women's tasks and duties in preparing for the success of jihad.
The video further explains that women can also contribute to ISIS' recruiting campaign by learning how to use design software to make their own forms of propaganda.
"The video talks about nursing and administering first aid, the cooking and preparation of food, the books of God, sharia science and the preparation of women for their contribution to jihad — essentially getting others to go out there," Winter said. "After sharia science, it talks about courses in making slide shows and editing them effectively making propaganda — before the video finishes."
The Zora Foundation most recently posted to its Twitter account the recipe for an energy snack to feed the jihadists that uses butter, flour and dates. The post says the snack is designed to replenish ISIS fighters in between battles. The post further explains that the recipe should be eaten with coffee, but can also be consumed with water, and that the snack will "prolong the strength of power of the mujahid."
Since The Zora Foundation began posting videos and tweets just over two weeks ago, the foundation's Twitter account has gained over 2,900 followers, while the Facebook page is up to over 300 "likes" since it's creation on Oct. 22.
